Sikorsky Global Helicopters is scheduled to receive a $2.5 million economic development grant from Pennsylvania to improve its access to Chester County Airport.

The grant will help allow the company to more easily maintain federal air safety concerns at their helicopter fabrication plant next to the airport when helicopters move back and forth from the plant to the airfield.

The grant will help finance construction of a tunnel for Washington Lane that bisects the helicopter manufacturing facility from the airport at the border between Sadsbury and Valley townships.

Currently, Sikorsky personnel have to block traffic on Washington Lane to local traffic when choppers make the “low hover” flight from the plant to the airport. The helicopters have to wait off the main airfield until cleared to enter. The traffic stoppage on the road is required under federal aviation safety regulations. The tunnel will eliminate the requirement, improving safety and unfettered traffic access to other companies down the road.

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The state plans to make the Economic Growth Initiative Grant to the industrial development arm of the Chester County Economic Development Council, the nonprofit that handles most of the business interaction with government agencies and private business in Chester County.

Sikorsky will build the tunnel. The economic development council will supervise the contract for the state. The council will then reimburse Sikorsky from the state grant.

The economic development council had no comment because word was not officially released from the office of Gov. Tom Corbett.

The governor’s press office said Friday the agreement with the state was essentially in place but was awaiting a final check-off from Sikorsky, based in Stratford, Conn.

The release came from the office of State Sen. Andrew Dinniman of Chester County, which was operating under the assumption that the announcement was timed simultaneously with the governor’s office.

“This project is crucial to keeping Sikorsky growing strong here in Chester County,” Dinniman said. “It will solidify Sikorsky’s continued operations in our region while removing any current inconvenience to residents and motorists who regularly use Washington Lane. It will ensure that hundreds of high-paying jobs stay in Chester County and in fact allow for continued expansion and job growth.”

Sikorsky purchased the former Keystone Helicopter Co. based at Brandywine Airport outside of West Chester in 2005. The firm outfitted new helicopter interiors and refitted older machines.

Sikorsky moved next to the larger Chester County Airport in a facility that could also allow greater future expansion. The plant outside of Coatesville is part of the Sikorsky Global division of the company. The expansion involved outfitting most commercial helicopters manufactured by Sikorsky plus continued work for other manufacturers.

Dinniman said the company needed the project to continue to grow at the airport or to seek an airport with a location adjacent to the airport. The project solves the problem.

“The Coatesville facility manufactures private commercial and emergency helicopters, which is one of the fastest growing segments of the helicopter market,” Dinniman said. “But under regulations, Sikorsky needs to be directly adjacent to or have direct access to an airport for their operations to continue to grow, which is precisely why this project is so important.”

Dinniman’s office provided information that Sikorsky has grown from about 700 employees in 2010 to about 1,800 today.

With direct airport access via the Washington Lane tunnel, Dinniman said, company officials have assured him that the facility is ripe for future expansion and growth.

“We are not just talking about keeping current employees in Chester County,” Dinniman said. “We are talking about the potential for many, many more as the company continues to grow and succeed.”